To cut my heart in two
by LadyNightRunner
Summary: Hiei says he never gets sick. WRONG! Will his friends figure out what's wrong with him in time? Even if they do, will they be able to do anythign to save him?


'Beep! Beep! Beep!' The lump beneath the blankets stirred, and a hand snaked out to press the 'off' button. "Hiei! You awake!"

"Ugh. Stupid human." Hiei grumbled, rolling out of bed. When he stood, he experienced momentary dizziness. Shaking his head to dispel the feeling, he headed for the bathroom, where a hot shower awaited him. Once he had completed his morning ritual of shower, stretching, and combat pattern dance, he wandered downstairs to find breakfast. As usual, both humans and the fox were eating when he arrived. For a change, Yusuke and Kuwabara were not stuffing their faces, ads they usually did. This was because both were still getting over some disease that they called the 'flu', which they'd caught from Kurama. _Hn. Like that'll ever happen to me_. Hiei thought haughtily. _That's what comes of being born in a human body_. Being a pureblood, the short tempered demon believed that he couldn't get sick. "Detective." Yusuke looked at him over the rim of his juice glass.

"What?"

"Get Botan to open me a portal."

"Got a day at the training center do you?" Kurama asked.

"Yes. Now get that portal opened." Yusuke obeyed, flipping open the communicator, which showed static for a moment, and then Botan's face.

"Hey 'suke! What's up?" Behind Yusuke, Hiei made a face at the always cheerful ferry girl.

"Hiei needs a portal to the Spirit World."

"Sorry. No can do."

"Why not?"

"The whole Spirit World has been put into quarantine. There's a bug going around, and it only affects humans."

"Same thing's goin' on here. It's flu season Botan, what do you expect?"

"I don't know what 'flu' is, but this virus is incurable. If the victim survives it, he or she is transformed into a demon. So far, over, 2,000 have died, about 300 have transformed, and hundreds are sick. If Hiei accidentally brought it back to your world and a human caught it, there'd be big trouble. Sorry Hiei." The screen went blank.

"Great." Hiei mumbled. "Now what am I going to do?"

"You can use my pass for the gym." Yusuke offered.

"Aren't you going to need it?"

"No. Kuwabara and me-"

"Kuwabara and I." Kurama corrected absently.

"Whatever. We're going on a 5-day trip with class. I won't need it until I get back.

"Fine." Hiei grunted. Yusuke handed him the pass, which he pocketed. He ate, and then went to his room, where he studied a book on the complicated pattern dances he was learning.

The pattern dance, for those who don't know, is a dance of battle moves done with a naginata, or long spear. As he had nothing else to do when the others were at school, Hiei had taken up the weapon. The dances were quite complicated, yet oddly relaxing. Following the next move in the dance he was currently learning, Hiei took down his practice weapon from its wall rack, where it hung when not in use, alongside the live weapon. The live weapon was beautiful, a full 5 feet long, cored in lead, with a solid iron base and capped by 18 inches of the finest steel money could by; a gorgeous blade sharper than anything but his katana. As he spun in a whirlwind pattern, he lost his balance and fell. For a moment, he felt terribly dizzy, then felt fine again. Noting that it was 12:30 already, he headed downstairs and outside, not in the mood for lunch. He headed for the gym.

2:30pm, same day Hiei allowed himself a small smile. Working out here was almost fun. Rather than hone his fighting techniques, he focused on keeping in shape. When he noticed that it was 2:30, he thought he'd go and meet Kurama, or Shuichi, as he was known here, when school got out at 3:30. After showering, he stepped out into the chilly, windy winter afternoon. Several blocks from the school, a sudden wave of nausea hit Hiei. He staggered into a tree, which he used to support himself, and closed his eyes, concentrating on settling his stomach. This took several minutes. What brought that on? he thought. He finished his walk and found Kurama. Not that he was difficult to find; his flaming red hair stood out.

"Oh, hey Hiei! What brings you here?"

"Just thought I'd come meet you."

"Thanks. Want to go out for ice cream before we go home?"

"No"

"What? I couldn't here you." _Did he just say no? Hiei never turns down ice cream._ One thing Hiei loved from the human world was ice cream. He always jumped at the chance to get some.

"I said no. I'm not hungry right now."

"Alright." They walked on in silence. When the house was in sight, Hiei, who had been walking in a sort of stupor, staggered under the influence of another dizzy spell. The sound of "Hiei? Are you okay?" snapped him from this trance, and he could taste the feeling in mouth and throat, the feeling one has when dead sure that they're about to vomit. Also, the quick-minded demon knew that there would be no calming his stomach this time. Kurama was swinging his keys from one finger. Hiei grabbed them and ran fro the house. Fumbling with the lock, he finally got the door open and shot into the bathroom. Once there, the room spun sickeningly for a moment, then, his stomach proceeded to violently empty itself. Having raced after his friend, Kurama heard Hiei's whereabouts and quickly covered his ears. _Gods! I hope that as long as I live, I never hear someone that sick ever again._ Removing hands from ears, he determined that Hiei was finished. He entered the room, moving toward the connecting bathroom. Hiei emerged from said bathroom. All semblance of a healthy teen was gone. Normally a pale color to begin with, his skin had taken on an ashen hue. He stumbled, and Kurama caught him. "Are you okay?" he asked, concerned. Hiei nodded. Noting Kurama's skeptical look, he added:

"Just something I ate.

"If you say so. You should get some ret, maybe you can sleep this off."

"Fine." Hiei shrugged out of Kurama's grasp and moved toward his bed, collapsing half-way there. Before Kurama could move to help him, he scrambled to his feet, wobbled as the room spun crazily in his eyes, and then crawled over to and into his bed.

"I won't wake you for dinner. I suspect you won't want anything." The only response was the soft breathing of the short demon.

Middle of the night (about 1:15 am) Kurama was woken by a soft moan and the sound of rushing feet. _Why must I be such a light sleeper?_ he thought, getting out of bed. _Still, I can't get mad at Hiei, seeing as this isn't his fault. You can't control when and if you get sick. And, I suppose, he was bound to catch something, with me and the boys all sick these last two weeks. Sounds like he got hit hardest though._ The slim redhead padded softly down the hall to Hiei's room. As he reached the door, he heard the sound of weight being redistributed on springs; Hiei had gone back to bed. Before he left, Kurama's sharp ears picked up a faint groan and a murmured apology:

"Gods, whatever I did to deserve this torture, I am deeply sorry." There might have been more, but the speaker was interrupted by a yawn.

"You didn't do anything. Well, maybe you were asking for it, believing that pureblood demons can't get sick." Kurama whispered, so soft that the boy could hardly hear himself. Smiling gently to himself, the fox demon turned and slipped back to his room, where soft pillow and warm blanket awaited to welcome him with the gentle arms of sleep.


End file.
